The foreign ministers of Japan and Malaysia agreed July 10 that rebuilding the coalition between feuding parties in Cambodia is critical to end the political crisis there.
Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda and his Malaysian counterpart, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, exchanged views on Cambodia by telephone early July 10 before the start of an emergency meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The meeting, held in Kuala Lumpur, was held to discuss whether Cambodia should be admitted into ASEAN later this month as scheduled. Malaysia currently chairs the regional group.
According to Foreign Ministry officials, Ikeda conveyed Japan's concern over Cambodia's crisis, which he said will have a serious impact on regional peace and stability. He also said Japan wants Cambodia to respect the 1991 Paris peace accord and its Constitution, and to hold an election next May as scheduled, the officials said.
Abdullah replied that the Cambodian Parliament should not be dissolved and that the Constitution should be maintained, they said.